


Lost Soul

by AngelaEvil



Category: Horrortale - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale, Blood and Gore, Dark, F/M, Female Reader, Kinda, Multi, Not really a ship fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Suicide, burning everything you touch, i'm not explaining, magical reader, more angst than fluff, sorta - Freeform, the moon wants to rape you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:05:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8182925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelaEvil/pseuds/AngelaEvil
Summary: A girl, blind to all, burns forever in the darkness. Deep beneath the mountain where no one can hear her screams, her immolated soul will find rest. At least that is the barest of hopes. The whispers of love, will they be false?





	1. The Moon Laughed

**Author's Note:**

> Recommended ambiance listening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VKYzTu2v3k starting around 36:00 or later depending on your reading speed and preferences.

Ever since you could remember, everything you touched... burned. It did not matter if it was possible or not, it would burn. Always. It seemed that some centuries ago a certain curse was placed on your family, though no one could even recall what is was or even how it came to be. The power was simply there. Forever.

You sigh, pulling your legs up to your chest and tamping down the flames bubbling out of your soul. This ability might be more a nuisance than a danger if you were able to see. As it was, you were blind to all but extreme changes in light. Anyone who wished to approach must first announce their presence so you don’t accidentally immolate them. There was, maybe, one exception to the rule; your aunt. Your sweet, motherly aunt who raised you in your father’s stead. You couldn’t see so much as feel her coming. Like a little wisp of flame in your mind's eye rooted in the center of her chest. You would know when she was near, and so long as she stood in your ‘line of sight’ she never risked a burn.

One way you combat such milky and useless eyes is utter silence. Your rooms were made always in the same layout with the creakiest hardwood floors possible. No one could sneak up on you in your room, for their own protection more than yours.

Your father is a wealthy man with more than his fair share of enemies, so you suppose that even all the worry you caused him, no one need fear a kidnapping.

You love your father. He’s such a kind man, at least to you. Though many of your relatives don’t see him that way. They think you ought hate him for locking you away from the sun, but you don’t. They say you ought to run away, or strike out on your own. You are old enough for that sort of thing. You don’t want to, though. You’re safe here, in this room of walls you’ve never seen but have been told are painted after a cloudy summer afternoon. In your room, a space for you alone. Satin furniture, and velvet drapes. Silk sheets that are so cool against your constantly inflamed skin.

No, you much prefer it here, safe and sound and loved, than out there where every stranger who but brushes your skirt hem unawares will burst into flame, screaming and dying with their last shuddering gasp of “why?” tearing into your soul. Not to mention the horrid stench a burning man makes. If that makes you an air-headed shut in, so be it.

You shudder at unpleasant memories. That poor dog only wanted to be pet.

Shaking your head, you blink away the needling sensation in your eyes. You shouldn’t burn the throw rug with tears again.

“Lovely,” a soft feminine voice cooed from where you knew the door to be. Might it be...?

“Enter.” You can’t help a twinge of thrill running up your spine from where you perched on a roman styled couch.

“And how is the princess doing today?” The teasing ease in the voice was most readily identifiable and you sprung onto your feet in joy, and because it was proper etiquette to do so.

You turn to face the sound, mind grasping onto the bright deep-light coming from her. “Aunt Duchess!” She quickly makes her way to you and you open your arms, she is a hugger after all, crushing the flames burning out of your core to remain there. Her grip was firm, tender, and brief for she knew how uncomfortable it is to tamp your soul down.

“So, my child, let me look at you.” Her light moved back a pace and you slowly spun, hoping you’d not frumpled the ball gown your maids had stuffed you in. Damn corsets and all their useful support. Breathing was the one thing you could do without worry of something getting singed. “Absolutely stunning, Lovely.”

“I would say the same for you, Aunt. Your life is quite radiant today.” You felt warm through to your toes when she laughed in her soft way.

“Yes, the entire estate is buzzing.” She giggled lightly as you turned to face her glow again. “There are even going to be foreign dignitaries. Very important people, and I get to host them!” You smiled at your aunt’s enthusiasm. She loved to throw parties, mingle, attend. Many might think it poor to have a woman of her station taking such joy in events, but she adored helping people of all sorts. One of the things you saw in her, loved in her, was that overwhelming kindness.

“That sounds wonderful.”

“Oh it most certainly is,” she cheered only to take a long drawn in breath and sniffle. “Oh, my dear Lovely is turning into a woman much too fast.” You heard the muffled sound of a nose being cleared as your aunt hiccupped a sob. “If only your mother were here to see you, I know my sister would to have wept!”

You quietly consider your aunt’s words. The mother you never knew holding you close as a child. She had the curse also, or so you were told. The only person you never could have burned, taken by illness shortly after your birth, and yourself handed off to your aunt. No one knew the reason why, aside from your father, herself, and you. Your aunt is a witch, or that is to say, someone gifted in the ancient art of magic. The Duchess of the South is a witch, and your aunt.

Your mother married “Morganatic” meaning that you’d not inherited her title and neither had your father. He and you are peasants in the eyes of the gentry. Peasants with far too much land, wealth, and connections. Some of the more nasty sort have oft said your mother did not give you eyes for your father was too poor to supply them. You frown slightly.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry.” Your aunt sniffed back a few more tears. “Imagine. Me in hysterics.” She laughed mockingly at her emotional outburst. It would have been frowned upon were anyone else in the room. “They would have me sent to Bedlam for it if they could.”

You laughed a bit louder than you ought have. The both of you broke out into a fit of giggles, exchanging witty remarks and jabs at the more snobbish attendees. She made to sit on the couch you had reclined on earlier and you joined her, chatting away about nothing of any consequence to those listening. But you understood.

When she says “that gardener boy, Jack, will attend,” and that she must “keep him out of the punch,” it really means that there will be armed guards and she cannot help if you lose control. If she says “the maid will fetch you” it means you’ll have to remain in a side room, out of the way. You’d not be introduced to anyone unless it was by her. Your only hope was to marry rich or your father to meet an early end. Neither you wanted. Not that you had a choice.

For the briefest moment you wished to be little more than a poor shop keeper’s daughter, pedaling flowers in the street. She, at least, had a hand in whom she would wed.

“Lovely, are you alright?”

The sting was in your eyes again, though you nodded obediently.

Your aunt let out a long sigh and it seemed her gaze was elsewhere. You couldn’t feel her looking anymore. “It is nearly sunset. The guests will arrive soon.” You pulled into yourself as she leaned forward to kiss your brow. Her hands sought yours for the briefest moment. “I’ll come for you when they are well settled. Please stay here until then.”

“Yes, Aunt Duchess.”

Her feet echoed down an empty hall as your door clicked softly shut.

You stood, moving slowly to a large bay window and swinging it open into the cool night. High above you would be the moon and stars. You could feel their sharp points of light burning far, far away. A gust blew up from the forest, from the mountain, from Ebott. You heard it approach, rippling through the fall leaves and creeping onto the manor grounds with a damp chill. It set in your heart, turning it to stone. You felt something out there stirring in restless slumber.

The curtains drifted up and whispered against your skin, pricking at the pressure in your chest. Your soul ached at the contained flames, each pulse ticking in time with horses hooves and carriage wheels coming up the cobblestone path to your home. Ever inward you drew yourself. Contain what you could not control, hide your heart away so none can see. Your hand pressed into your chest where the power built and you drew it back, clawing the fire out of your soul. You sent it flying to the stars, and your mind could see the flames licking up towards a saturated red moon.

With the flames released and misfortune abated, you let your eyes close, hands wrapped gently over the cold iron railing. You greeted the moon with a smile. You nodded to the wind as a jolly passer by. You curtsied to the mountain who was lord over his valley. Such was your tradition of things, and as such, you sang.  It was a song you knew from your mother’s teaching. Something you treasured, her last gift to you lost forever in the melody. A call without words, deep and full with the worries of your very soul.

The wind puffed a long soothed sigh against your cheeks and the mountain settled in for his rest, but not so the moon. The moon laughed down on you as if some cruel twist of fate would soon befall you. This laughter you felt quake in your soul, sightless eyes reopened. Vision of your mind filled with the moon’s gloating grin. It was now your flesh that turned stoney, not merely a heavy heart.

“ _Lovely pet_ ,” you felt it whisper. “ _you will be mine_.”

You swallowed down the fear and confusion boiling in your throat. Smoke hissed past your lips with every gulp of chilled air. Your lungs were crushingly tight, choking on the very smog pouring from your constricting throat.

“Lovely.” The voice of your aunt sent the blessed ice to your mind and body, numbing away the fear.

“Yes,” you flinched at how your voice croaked.

“A bit early to be smoking?” There is worry buried beneath the playful stint.

“I certainly think so.” You take a step back to close the window.

“Oh there will be time for that later, Lovely. Our esteemed guest have arrived and you will need to relax again before bed. Leave it open for now.”

“Yes, Aunt Duchess.” As you turn from the half-open window the curtains wrestle at your feet, almost begging you to linger there. But you refused.

Your aunt hums, taking your arm in hers as you squash yourself down. She guides you to the sounds of a party, clinking glasses, conversation, the soft movement of feet, and laughter. It soothed you, thawed you out of stone. Perhaps you were just going mad as they all said. Perhaps, this was nothing but a flight of fancy. Nerves at the men you would meet, what polite conversation you'd be forced to have. Jitters at the sheer number of voices around your head, the faint lights in many strange chests you dare not stare at. It felt rude, though you were blind, not to look someone in the eye.

Ah, yes. That’s right. You _couldn’t_ have seen the moon. You are blind. Yes. There was nothing wrong with you, just nerves. You were fine, enjoy the party.

Listen to stories of hunts.

Laugh at the terrible jests.

Gossip with the other young ladies.

Giggle at the strapping young men trying to catch your eye.

Wear your mask.

Wear your smile.

Forget the moon.

Forget that you pretend.

The window will be there just like your aunt said, ready to give your roaring agonies their egress. You could take all your complaints to the stars. Later.

... Later.

Your fingers twitch at the hem your sleeves. Everywhere you go, you can feel gazes on your neck. People staring as you pass, parting for you. Bending away like reeds in a breeze. The rustle of fabric and stifling of conversation whispers how unwelcome you are here. Pauper amongst gentry, cursed beside blessed. The looks are unwelcome, waiting patiently for your aunt to depart from you before subjecting your mind to their scalding gaze.

To leave you be for one night would be too kind it seems. Instead, you find a small sitting room on the forested side of the mannor and settle yourself by the window. The moonlight brushing over your cheek, down to the cusp of your collarbone in a lingering touch of an impatient lover. The light’s probing insistence plays to your mind that this is not merely nerves. Something supernatural is taking hold of your peaceful world and shaking it.

You turn your sightless eyes upon the terrifying sanguine visage of the heavenly body, listening to him murmur sweet nothings into your soul. You felt it like a sharp tug on your sternum, leading you out into the wood beyond. There is where this mystery had taken root; Mt. Ebott. You fingers dug into your thighs as you sat there, heartbeat fluttering against your chest.

Why did the moon seduce you? Why the mountain?

“ _That doesn't matter, Lovely. Come to me._ ”

But you want to know.

Your gaze drifted unseeingly towards the woods where long wisps of white, pure light flowed up into the night sky turning red and writhing the moon in eerie finery. Amongst the glow was a shadow moving stiffly through the edge of your mind.

“ _Go up to your room, Love. I will take you there._ ”

You looked once again at the dim, scuffed, or cracked lights of the other humans around you, only aware of the glows in your hyper alert state. You didn’t want to be here but... Aunt Duchess would be so displeased with you, even if only mildly. It would be too much.

“ _Don’t you want to feel safe, pet? Seccure? I will never let you come to harm, Lovely. Come to me._ ”

You shouldn’t. I-It wouldn’t be proper. But that allien allure pulling you in... No, fight it off. You are a lady, this is not well.

“ _You were never such a proper girl before, pet. Every wish of your soul I can grant, only come to me._ ”

What would father think? You simply couldn’t.

“ _You never need fear with me. Never shall burn me. I will carry your holy light up with me, embracing you as you are. Come. To. Me._ ”

A-as you are? Never burn... You could final let go of all the strife and self restraint crushing down in your soul? Really? That would be amaz- No, you still couldn’t. It is ridiculous, having a conversation with the moon. As if where a desperate lover even! Of all the mad thi-

“ _Oh, my lovely pet,_ ” the whisper settled into with a weight much to solid. You could feel the lips brushing against your neck as he spoke. “ _Whoever said I am the moon?_ ” His hand traced up from your waist into your hair. His breath rushing over your slightly parted lips smelled heavily of flowers, sickly sweet. The air caught in your lungs as the ghostly fingers sieved your locks. “ _I will give you such pleasure that you would never feel. Freedom to roam without fear of harming any other. Merely come to me, Lovely, and I will fulfill you._ ”

The briefest press of a body against your stole any sense you had left. Your feet moved on their own will, mind heavy with the perfume of flora you’d inhaled. Sanguine shades flickered in your mind’s eye, figures of dancing girls and handsome young men, all moving around you, clasping onto your hand or brushing past you, murmuring encouragement to continue.

“Into the forest,” they purred. “Come into the forest with us. We know you can. We love you, come join us.” Encircling and leading you forward by the hand. Somewhere, your Aunt was calling your name, it felt like she was close, her light was nearly beside but held at bay by something, yet her voice was leagues apart from your mind.

The shimmering white licked at the air from the forest, forming a glowing mist in your mind, guiding you forward surely. Each step pulled more firmly at your heart. The stoney feeling returned to your limbs, moving onward. Your mind drifted to memories of you as a little girl playing in the garden. A large shadow blocked out the meager moonlight, a deep voice sometimes accompanied the shadow warning you to stay inside at night. You would laugh at the voice thinking it one of the guards your father hired. This thought made no sense to your moon-addled mind. It made no difference now you supposed.

“ _Yes, keep walking, Love._ ”

Was that a shadow by the garden wall?

Your mind snapped into clarity a second too late. Your foot had just left the strong purchase of your balcony rail. The creaking floors had not woken you from your haze, the sensation of falling had. You scream in terror. The ground greets you too quickly four stories down. Blackness you were not prepared for swallows you whole, leaving only the glowing moon shining into your milky juniper eyes.

* * *

 

She stared down at you, leaning over the rail with tears seeping through her eyes. She tried to call out for you, so many times. But there you were, laying in a patch of your favorite garden flowers, staring vacantly at the moon while red seeped onto the stones by your head. The Duchess covered her mouth and slid to the floor, not caring for the expensive silk gown she wore. It was worthless rags compared to you, her one treasure gone. Just like her sister.

Her brother in law, your father, had nearly caught your sleeve, despite the danger it posed to him. Eric lunged for you like she had. He stood there, staring into his palm with an disbelieving gleam in his rusty hazel eyes. She could not bare this, covering her face and wept. A few attendants, even a handful of party goers had run after as well.

She had tried so hard to reach you, but that haze around your soul strangled her voice and thrust her away. This was not suicide. This was murder. She glared up at the glutted moon, red and ugly. The Duchess knew the working of this madness, and it had taken you.

A stormcloud rolled through, leaving the shining of the moon unrestrained, but pouring down tears on your blank face. Thunder cracked just overhead and the Duchess’s eye went round as saucers. Standing just out of the light’s reach was a massive man, stiff, grimacing, and pale as death. In the flash of light his glowing bloody gaze met her as he stood over your body. When the blinding glow passed, he was gone.... and so were you.

* * *

 

You woke to a gentle swaying and the smell of old books. You mind was still hazy as you shifted against strong hands. The arms carrying you near completely surrounded you against the chilly fall night. You couldn’t remember anything about what happened. You were sitting in your room this afternoon... then your aunt came? Nothing past that.

You took in a long, deep breath of forest air, savoring the scent of flowers. The tugging at your soul, while still painful was growing more tolerable as whoever carried you headed in the direction the call pulled towards.

Curiosity overtaking you, even through the blur, you turned your mind’s eye towards your rescuer. His light was so bright it nearly blinded you. Large, grey-white, and set like an inferno in his chest. The sight was breath taking. You reached out to the flaming jewel without thought. He froze with a grunt and you could feel a sinister glare set into you. That hardly mattered to you presently. Your hand pressed into a solid chest draped in coarse fabric.

His shoulders shifting your weight jarred you a bit, instinctually quashing your soul deeper into your chest so he would not be burned. The gaze on you turned curious, but he remained quiet. His steps sounded heavy on the forest path, crunching leaves and snapping twigs without much care. You felt you shouldn’t ask him about what happened nor where you were going.

Your hand curled around the fabric and you let yourself relax against the strong forearms supporting you. He puffed a chuckle that reverberated through your bones. It sounded hollow. Ethereal. Dare you say, inhuman.

“Who are you?” Your voice comes out rougher than it should have and you swallow the scratch away.

“my name doesn’t matter.”

You blink, unseeing gaze fixed where his eyes would likely be. That was a sound you knew. “I know you,” you murmur without meaning to. It’s the guard that warned you to stay inside at night. It had to be. But that was a decade or more ago, surely he was too old to carry you. You didn’t want to strain him. “I can walk on my own, if you’d prefer.”

His steps paused again. “after a fall like that? no way, kid.”

“A fall?” You eyebrow quirked as you skeptically repeated the statement.

“yeah. four stories onto a garden path.”

You jolted, nearly causing him to drop you. What were you not remembering? It alluded you infuriatingly. Your brow creased.

“hm, well, we’re almost there.”

His grip dug into your shoulder at the rush of damp, stale air pushing past you. It felt like claws pricking into your skin. You shudder lightly. Your fingers are sparking.

“you okay, kid.”

“Please don’t call me that.” It’s little more than a whisper, but it’s enough to distract him.

“hm?” His fingers don’t dig into your skin anymore at least.

“I’m a lady, not a child. I ask you refrain from calling me ‘kid’.”

He snorts a chuckle at you. “alright, human it is.” His footsteps echo into a musty enclosed space. Soft drips bounce off the wall and it feels as if you’re descending.

“A cave?”

“yep.”

You run your hands over his chest again, catching the corner of a fur trim. Large, fur, lives in a cave? “Well, I don’t much like ‘human’ but I suppose it will be alright for now, assuming... you aren’t human?”

“right again.” He didn’t sound comfortable talking about this.

“Mm. I think Teddy will be fine.”

“what.”

You have to crush down a wave of giggles at his deadpan. “You seem like a bear to me, so the name fits.”

“teddy.”

“Yes.”

He groaned loudly. You could see the pulse of disgust through the ripple of light in his chest. He didn’t complain more than that. You smiled. The light hearted feeling did not last however. You grew concerned for your aunt and father. What would they think? That you suddenly disappeared? That someone had taken you? Though you supposed that was accurate in some regard as Teddy did take you… After you had fallen onto the garden path...From four stories up…

“A-am I dead?”

“nearly.”

“I don’t… feel very dead.”

The deep booming voice laughed at your remark, though it was more a cruel mocking sound than any for of comradery.

“Well, if I _am_ very nearly dead, why are you helping me?”

“who ever said i’m helping you human?”

This gave you pause, ice running through your fingertips despite the flames that flickered about your hands. You felt Teddy’s gaze shift down to your palms, his light sparking in surprise. Though he said nothing you could feel the burning curiosity coming off him in waves. “I-If you aren’t helping me, than what are you doing?”

“following orders,” his gruff voice rumbled through your chest again, leaving you feeling less soothed and more afraid by the minute.

What is going to happen to you?

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapters from here on out will be posted daily/ every other day and won't be all that long either. Well see how this goes and if I can it mostly done by Halloween with the new time frame. I'll try to keep interest in this one at least until Halloween. If the story is still on going after that I might shift back into longer chapters once a week or so. Who knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPUTddT8APc for the duration of time reader-chan is in Snowdin. I'll let you know when the soundtrack changes.

 

A shudder slipped up your spine, especially foreign to you. You’d never been cold before, not really. This strange icy feeling clung to your arms and legs, clawing into your flesh and causing you to shake violently. Teddy grunted at your body’s spastic attempts to keep itself warm. There was no where to go from the cold gale ripping into your dress. You pressed into the strong arms and solid chest of the creature carrying you. Wait... wind?

Your head shot off his shoulder, wide, vacant eyes scanning the area around you sightlessly. Though... the snow glowed in your mind’s eye. You could ‘see’ the vast expanse of ‘white’ interspersed with thick voids. Your arms tightened around yourself, heated breath steaming against your numbed face. “Where are we?”

“underground.” Teddy growled, the vibrations sending a rush of adrenalin through your frigid limbs. The sound was  _ not _ soothing. Well, nothing about this man, _if that was even a way to describe Teddy_ , was in any way soothing.

“But... there’s wind and...” You trailed off, gaze falling to the shadowy outline of Teddy’s legs against the snow beneath you. The monster huffed a breath, hot air rippling your hair and tracing your shoulders. It did distract you a bit from your musings, but the closer you looked at Teddy, the more defined his shape was, at least the void of his shape against the snow.

Curse your sightless eyes for the thousandth time. Your body began to stiffened from the cold, reminding you that despite the curiosity gnawing at your insides, it was better to be confused than dead. “Please put me down,” you murmur into his shoulder.

Teddy seemed to hesitate, a sharp inhale pressing his... bony chest into your side briefly. He put you down though, your feet shrieking when they sunk into the deep snow. Your maids had put you in dainty dancing shoes, knowing how much you detested having your skin covered. It seemed that obstinance was coming back to bite you.

“Step back please; I need some room.” You hissed out the smoke threatening to choke you, shivering at the biting chilled air you inhaled to replace it. Throughout the whole of you little breathing exercise, Teddy remained motionless. It was now his own fault. 

You lifted yourself onto your toes, feeling your flames surge up from your core. They licked at your sides and arms at first, barely there at all, but your mind could place them, your own form a dark figure wrapped in the burning orange light. The first few steps of your dance did nothing to warm you, but the fire grew, sweeping down over your dress into the snow. Beneath you, the powder ignited, burning without melting. 

It was at this moment you heard the hasty retreat from a certain large figure. Sounds like bones grinding together and a static clicking punctuated the silence between your heavy breaths. Just as you were about to pull yourself in and stutter an apology the warmth of your soul poured over your chilled body, melting away any concern you had in a rushing, snapping,  _ glorious  _ frenzy to of light and heat. Your legs and arms moved, sending your form in dancing spirals around the dark shape with its blinding white glow. 

That inverted heart became your focal point as you moved with the grace of whatever life this flame enacted within you. Once the immolation  took hold of your, whatever reservations and fears you had vanished into the pire. Cast off in a unburdening of all. You felt free, so free. Nothing could touch you, nor harm you. Not cold, not monster, nor beast; not poverty, nor famine. You hungered and thirsted for nothing. Everything was right with the world, and even if you knew it wasn’t such little things as mortal peril were brushed aside.

Consequently, once uninhibited, there was nothing in this world that held back the ‘real you’, the self you longed to be with every breath. The self that was unchained from your own soul. This you laughed, a joyous silvery sound punctuated by the snap of wind-rushed flames. Teddy’s essence became so clear, and everything was so bright. His outline was lost to the brilliance of his soul. Yes, that is a soul in him, just as every spark you’ve ever ‘seen’ was also a soul. Even your Aunt Duchess had one, a shimmering one that some disparate corner of your being wanted to pluck out and wear as the radiant gem she was. This monster’s soul was dull by comparison, though it was brighter to the ‘eye’, there was no life in him.

You found your focus slipping, yet weren’t alarmed by it. Not at least until that sharp pull on your own soul sent a chill of clarity through your mind. “ _ Lovely, I see you. Come to me, oh please come. I long for you. _ ”

Immediately your cold rationality snapped down on your boiling flames, crushing both them and your soul deep into your chest, wrapping your arms tightly around your steaming skin and huddling low into the snow. Your shaking had returned for an entirely different reason.

Teddy slowly edge up next to you, a low wary growl ticking out of his mouth. Two thin, red pupils marked new details on his face and you swallowed thickly. If your heart was not already threatening to tear free from your chest, it certainly was now. For the first time in your entire life, you looked someone in the eye, and  _ knew _ they were looking back.

“what in the hell was that?” he snarled, his voice muffled as if he was speaking around clenched teeth.

“I-I-I-” You snapped your mouth shut and tried to force yourself to calm down, rising slowly to your feet. Teddy followed you with his eyes, those pulsing red slits marking his gaze. “I was cold a-and needed to let g-go of some pressure.”

The monstrous silhouette huffed, glowing eyes flickering over your form. “managed to burn yer dress ta cinders... heh. that’ll work.”

“P-pardon?” Your hands immediately sought the hem of your gown, only to find it had been burned all the way up to your knees, your shoes were gone, and the sleeves had too been consumed to your shoulders. Only a thin stip of fabric remained to keep the dress around your chest. You flushed at the shortness, and likely disheveled appearance you must now bare. If anyone were to see you know, sure they would think you a harlot. Oh the scandal would ruin you! If you even managed to escape from this ‘underground’ place Teddy had taken you too.

Oh gods, you’re going to die down here, never to feel the sun again. And that damnable, sweet voice, luring you here in the first place. You detested the way your soul pulled toward the source. It was somewhere in this mountain, and however he was that called for you... He was relentless it seemed. No amount of cursed magic would save your soul from him.

Teddy’s hand, massive and skeletal, clutched around your upper arm. “i think i’ll call ya cinders from now on human. that lil’ light show you put on was interesting.” Though his voice sounded mocking, you could just detect a level of genuine interest in you. That thought made you shudder as he lifted you from the snow like you weighed nothing. Your hands locked around his neck without even thinking, prompting an amused hum from him.

“W-well, it’s better than both ‘human’ and ‘kid’,” a slight chuckle escaped you as the irony set in. “I suppose I’ll grow to love it.”

“if ya last that long.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com (askthestyxau.tumblr.com) [other sub-blogs may be added in the future]  
> dA: So0that (if you're really that interested.)
> 
> Inspired by horrortale.tumblr.com and story elements in collaboration with purity-bears-and-spiderbones.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You done goofed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snowdin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPUTddT8APc  
> Grillby's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEQEKCN6SgY starting at 8:48

 

The trek from then on was silent. You winced at the pulling on your soul. It was hard enough to hold in your flames without that instant groping from whatever force had called you down here. Instead you grounded yourself in Teddy’s arms, closing your eyes and focusing on the rocking motion of his gate. The sway wasn’t terribly substantial, but if those lights had really been his eyes, then Teddy was a behemoth of a creature. And the skeletal feel to him... you found yourself tracing his ribs through the sweater absentmindedly. He was definitely a skeleton of some description.

Teddy huffed a low growl, stilling your hands as your entire body seized up. “stop that.”

“S-sorry.” You clutched the hem of your skirt instead, turning your empty gaze to the snow once again. It struck you how similar the glowing powder was to that strange mist you saw before. Back in your room. Your mind swept up the sounds and smells of home, the feel of the curtains when you drew them back. The kiss of the night air on your face and neck. Oh, the air alone felt so different from here.

Every chilled breath you took felt stale, crushingly tight. There was no truly open space down here, was there? Your head turned upward, solid points of nothingness marking the gaps between glowing snowflakes. One landed on your cheek first and you gasped in surprise. It was snowing, not just a trick of you mind. Actually snowing! Underground!

Actually... the more you thought about it, the more it didn’t seem so bad. You could ‘see’ things down here. Or at least sense presences. What was it though? Aunt Duchess had told you about magic before, and how each person had a hidden potential for it, but you never really thought about it. You’d always assumed magic was herbs, chants, and demon pacts. Witchcraft in the ‘traditional’ sense. But... wasn’t what you could do magic? A curse yes, but magic nonetheless? And if you could ‘see’ your own flames, did that not then stand to reason that you could ‘see’ magic? That every person’s soul was inherently magical? You bit your lower lip, twisting the burned fabric in your hands while smoke slid from between your teeth.

“what're you thinkin’ about, cinders?”

Teddy’s voice caused you to jolt in surprise, an undignified squeak escaping you. You hastily cleared your throat and blushed. “Teddy, are you... a demon? Or rather, some other magical creature?”

For a long time he did not answer. You waited for several minutes, the curiosity chewing you up inside made those seconds slow to a crawl. Eventually, just as you thought he wouldn’t even acknowledge the question, he puffed a sigh and a grunt. “i’m a monster. we live off of magic and humans produce a whole lot of it. flesh tastes just as good though.”

You... you weren’t sure how to feel about all of this, aside from mildly panicked. If you really wanted to, you could just keep burning, no one could stop you. But knowing that monsters, creatures like Teddy really did exist, that they could likely use magic too... It shattered your confidence in your ability to survive down here. The not so subtle hint that you could easily become food for “Him” too didn’t settle your soul anymore. You wanted to run so badly, but that tugging sway would not let you go. A profound sense of resignation overcame you, slacking all the muscles in your body. You could feel your light dimming.

Teddy noticed it too, tossing you a little in an attempt to get you attention. You obediently turn your gaze in his direction, ‘seeing’ those glowing pupils in the corner of your eye, but refusing to meet them. “keep on burning, cinders, or those others might get ideas.”

“Others?” You turned to the forest(?) on instinct. There were many lights, none quite so bright as Teddy’s, yet there they were. And eyes, the feeling of so many eyes on you. It sent your skin crawling as you pressed further into Teddy. You knew he wasn’t safe, not by a long shot, but still those other figures out in the void beyond your ethereal sight.... Those shadowy, blurry shapes against the pure white snow, they screamed of peril, bloodshed, and terror. You wanted nothing to do with them.

Your hands tightened on your dress to the point where the fabric ripped slightly. A tremor ran through your body as fear caused you to heat up. The monster carrying you let out an annoyed hiss. “i can’ see where i’m going if ya keep steamin’ and smokin’ like that.”

You couldn’t even mumble an apology before all the white was cut off from your ‘vision’. A rush of warmer air pressed into the corners of your flesh. It smelled of incense here, like one might offer to the dead. Incense and pine. Teddy set you down on some large, flat wood surface. It felt smooth to the touch, like it had been treated. There were residue rings the approximate size of your palm standing in relief on the surface. Some were sticky, others still felt damp. Water damage?

A soft tap of padded feet against the countertop next to you was all the warning you got to pull your flames in before something fluffy brushed against your side with a curious purr. You tentatively reached out a hand, allowing the cat to rub its face against your palm. 

“stay put,” Teddy gruffed as his heavy steps disappeared behind a door farther in whatever building he’d brought you to.

You crossed your legs, trying to keep your growing nervousness in check. The cat pushed its way onto your lap, rumbling loudly and kneading your already destroyed dress. You did not protest, tentatively brushing your fingers over the feline’s silky fur. A giggle escaped you when it licked the back of your hand, pointlessly trying to groom you in return. Keeping your mind on this little creature's warmth soothed you.

Well up until a quite voice like dry leaves scraping together, or perhaps a dying fire, slid through the air from over your right shoulder. “He likes you...”

Your breath caught in your throat, converting the air into a thick black smoke as you choked on it, coughing violently and dislodging the cat from the sudden jerking movement. You leapt down hastily in an attempt to get away from this new person, or more likely monster. Where was Teddy? Why did he leave you alone?! You began to rapidly scramble away, only to whine in pain when you pressed weight onto your ankle. You wouldn't be able to run like this! Oh gods, oh gods oh gods _ ohgods _ ! 

There was a claw-like hand on your arm, the bite of cold metal against your skin sent a rush of prickling fear through you. You whimpered, trying to blink the burning tears from your eyes. Ever so slowly you turned to look at who held you still. Your ‘vision’ was filled with a blinding white light in the shape of a man. His solid dark-red eyes. There were some gaps to his being where the cloth was thicker, but on the whole, you could ‘see’ him. A monster made entirely of fire.

And just like that, the fear was gone. You stared at him, your own flames licking down your face and spreading over your shoulders. He reached forward, his arm ending suddenly yet some metal, claw-like finger brushing over your cheek. It was more than a little alarming. 

“cinder’s,” Teddy’s gruff voice announced his presence casing you to jump at the lack of heavy steps, “this is grillby. he knows a thing or two about fire and healing. you’ll be staying with him until yer fit enough to travel.”

You just nodded lamely, letting those stiff metal hands help you to your feet, biting into your lip when you put weight on your sore ankle. Your legs were still shaking and spots danced through your mind despite there being no vision for them to impede. How had you not felt the blood loss until now? Adrenaline? No, that had to be making this worse. “Here.... sit down,” Grillby murmured, “I’ll get you... something to eat....” You were lead to a stool that had been near the counter you’d been dropped on before. 

After settling yourself, you felt Teddy give you a nudge and you turned to look in his direction, finding those sparking red eyes. He didn’t say anything, just looked at you. Though... how to describe it? There was a feeling you sensed rolling off of him in waves. It wasn’t quite concern, and though aggressive wasn’t hostile either. Possessive perhaps? Why Teddy would be possessive over you was beyond your comprehension. 

“cinders.”

“Y-yes?”

There was that pause again, the pulsing in his eyes speeding up slightly as the slits narrowed slightly. “don’t go dancing for anyone else.” His voice was low and tight, ending in a subtle growl that chilled you to the bone.

“Pardon?” Surely you couldn’t have heard that right. But, the behemoth of a monster didn’t answer you, turning his back and simply vanishing. His light was just gone, like he’d never been there to begin with. Your mouth hung open slightly in a very unladylike fashion.

Grillby soon returned, the smells of fresh baked bread came with him, though there was something sour about it that made your stomach turn, you knew that you’d been pampered most of your life. Maybe you just weren't used to the smell. Surely there wasn’t anything wrong with it, right?

No, no there was nothing wrong. Teddy trusted Grillby, at least enough to take care of you, and Teddy needed you alive --you hope-- for delivery to whoever this “Him” is that wants you so badly. If somethi- someone like Teddy worked for “Him” then Grillby probably did too...

Right?

You accepted the bread when Grillby gave it to you, not hesitating to eat it. You would loose your nerve otherwise. It took only thirty seconds to realize that had been a mistake. Your mind slowed to a crawl immediately after noting something was horribly wrong. The last thing you remember was a pungent taste of something acrid before everything dissolved into nothingness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened. There's a lot of conflicting emotions in this one. I am prepared for the backlash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZ517Ls_FE from 10:59

_Ow ow ow ow ow_ “Ow.” Oh blessed stars, your voice was so gravely. There was this intolerable thumping ringing in your ears, throbbing through every centimeter of your body. Your eyes pushed their way open rather uselessly. There was only the nothing, as there had been so many times before. Your skin prickled with chills and you groped for your sheets. There was nothing there. A low whimper slipped from between your teeth as you sat up. Your right leg rested on a pillow, wrapped in some stiff cloth with a strip of wood on either side, forcing your ankle to stay in line. That’s funny, you don’t remember getting that injury. Did you fall during the ball last night? Had something to drink, maybe. You had no tolerance for liquor. Egh, what time was it? Surely the ladies in waiting would have woken you by now. Still groggy, you reached for the silver bell on your night stand. Your hand snatched at open air.

A sinking feel crawled down your spine as it all came rushing back. Your hand lifted to your face, tracing up the damp fabric around your eyes. Your breath quickened as you gently pressed at one of your eyelids. Your finger went inside the empty socket.

You screamed.

Fingers dug into the fabric constricting your head, ripping it into shreds as flames poured from the remains of your tear ducts. Your flesh burned and sparked, consumed somewhere between agony and wrath. _How dare he! How! Dare! He!_ The curse’s magic boiled through your body like lightning in your veins. Whatever cloth had been used to bind your wounds seared off as you rose, only to stumble at the sudden vertigo.

Your hands impacted with a coarse carpet, eyes opening wide despite the absolute futility of it all. The scent struck you next, musky and thick. It was nothing like Grillby’s home. This smell.... _Teddy?_

“good ta see you up finally. can ya not light the rug on fire, cinders?”

Your soul withered slightly, drawing the flames roaring over your shoulders to shrink back. “What did you do to me?” You choked on the sob trying to claw out of your throat, refusing to cry. Teddy shifted somewhere behind you, floor creaking as his weight dropped lower. Your body stiffened on its own, hands clenching in the carpet bristles, drawing your legs closer to you and getting in a less vulnerable position.

The monster didn’t answer you, seeming to wait for you to calm down. “there was something in your eyes that shouldn’t have been there. alph agreed to remove it ta pay off a favor she owes me.”

“So you just plucked my eyes out while I was drugged?”

“ya prefer i’d did it while ya were awake, cinders?” Teddy moved a little, emitting a huff while the floor shook. Did he just sit down? “‘sides, not like she gonna keep ‘em. alph’s just gonna deal with the infection, flush ‘em out, and then grillbz’ll put ‘em back in.”

You leaned back, pulling your knees up to your chest, turning your head towards where the monster was, and gingerly opening your eye lids. Before where you might have seen a bright light, there was nothing. Nothing at all. Those scalding tears never stopped running even as your flames died down. So much for not crying.

Teddy’s bones are surprisingly warm, a thick thumb brushing away the leaking saltwater. The jerkiness of his motions, coupled with a pressure that clearly wasn’t accustomed to being gentle spoke volumes to just how rare a gesture this was.

“Why?”

The monster jerked his hand back as if it had been your words that burned him and not your inflamed skin. “i don’ know what you mean by that, cinders.”

“I-If you aren’t lying to me, then... then you’ve been helping me. Why?” Your hands were fixed in a stranglehold on the carpet, tremors rippling through your body as that pounding sound in your head grew louder and louder. You felt sick and exhilarated all at once. “Why do you care?”

“i said before, got a job ta do.” Teddy’s voice echoed hollowly, muffled slightly. He had turned away from you.

Before you could say another word, a soft rattling hiss drifted down from the ceiling. You inhaled sharply, closing your useless, empty eye sockets and turned your face towards the sound. It was quiet enough that you could barely register it over the throbbing in your head, yet not so low that you couldn’t hear if you were listening carefully. Scuffing and chattering slowly approached from above you and it became gradually harder for you to breath.

“Brother! What Is This!? Is It Human? It Smells More Like Fire!” The sheer volume of this new voice made you jump, surging to your feet without any prompting, flames sparking in the palms of your hand. Being blind was one thing, not having eyes entirely left you feeling weak and jittery.

Teddy’s warning snarl prompted you to smother your flaming hands, and while you did dim the blaze a bit, you were not above lashing out at these monsters. They were not trustworthy, not to the extent you had given before. Such a fool you’d been! The anger ran through your limbs again, the heavy beat in your head speeding up in time with your pulse. Oh, that was your heartbeat, or rather some echo of it? Either way, the pain became some sick kind of comfort.

“It Burnssss?!” The voice was right above you and just a little in front of you. “Why Does It Keep Turning Its Ears Towards Me, Sans?!” This new monster hissed with barely disguised annoyance.

“it can’t see, bro.”

“Wait, Really?!” Teddy’s brother rattled in frustration, “The How Will It Shake In Fear Of My Terrible And Horrible Appearance?!” He dropped to the ground in front of you, the monster’s breathy sigh tracing up your body to far above your head as he stood.

You hesitantly cleared your throat. “My aunt raised me a proper lady, I’ll be more than happy to give you my name if you would do me the honor of your’s.”

“I Am The Ferocious And Terrifying Papyrus, Little Not-Monster!”

You stuck out your hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Ferocious and Terrifying Papyrus, my name is-”

“cinders.” Teddy gruffed while pulling your arm back down to your side. He really could move silently for such a big guy, couldn’t he? You didn’t fight his grip, that felt particularly futile. Instead you gently wiped at the flaming water still resting against your skin. It didn’t occur that you were actually naked until just now. Your face reddened starkly with embarrassment, not only from the disregard for your actual name, but also the exposed nature of your current state.

“Um, pardon Teddy, but might I have my clothes back?”

“Teddy?” Papyrus squeaked in a mix of confusion and taunting amusement. That prompted another growl from the monster who still had an iron grip on your forearm.

“ya burned the rest off in yer sleep. gave grillbz a start with that.”

Your flush only deepened and you shifted guiltily. “T-that happens sometimes,” you muttered. Wait, why? Weren’t you supposed to be angry right now? Oh, no you supposed not angry enough to shun the only ally you might have in the underground, no matter how thoroughly demented he may be. And... your ankle did feel better now that you thought about it. “Is... Is it possible that I can get something to wear?” You tried to cover your chest as best you could with just one hand. It wasn’t very easy.

Teddy huffed to himself. “‘m sure there’s something we haven’t thrown out yet. take whatever ya like from that i guess.” The monster lead you up a flight of stair and to a walk-in closet of some description. It smelt worse in here, much worse. But there was fabric, most had gaping holes and a slick or sticky substance on them. You really didn’t want to guess what it was. The entire time you groped around in the clothes you could feel Teddy’s gaze on you. You kept pausing to turn your head towards him, just to make sure you could hear him if he got any ideas about approaching you. Though you might be grateful for his help, you weren’t going to trust him farther than you could throw him. That was the saying right? Even though you probably couldn’t so much as budge the monster the more you thought of it. It seemed a poor metaphor.

Eventually, you caught this melody; very, very quiet yet still definitely there. It seemed to be emanating from him. Much like the deafening sound in your head, the song coming from Teddy throbbed like a pulse. You couldn’t help but wonder if that ability to ‘see’ had moved to your other senses. It was logical from what you’d heard of people who lost their sight midway through life.

Your hands finally found a set of clothes that weren’t coated in blood or torn to shreds. Luckily it fit you, unluckily it was a man’s outfit. You put the garments aside, finding other clothes that could be easily shredded and relatively clean feeling.

Armed with years of having to tie clothes together after accidentally burning them, you set about wrapping your privates, braiding the fabric around the bands of where your corset had been. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it did give you more motion than your corsets ever did. That done you equipped the tunic and leggings. It certainly did feel like you could run without tripping now. Despite all the bad, a small smile crept onto your face.

You gripped the ties on your hair, plucking them out and letting your curls fall fully onto your back. It was getting rather long again; your hair should be trimmed soon. On your way out, you nearly tripped on a pair of riding boots. They would be better for the wintry environment at least, and felt to be about your size. You stuffed your feet into them, shuddering slightly at what was likely blood squishing between your toes. Well, it was already on your foot, might as well just deal with it. You felt fairly adventurous for a sheltered girl.

Teddy’s eyes flickered over your new clothes, you could feel them. You picked up an extra piece of fabric and tied it around your empty eye sockets to keep them from getting any more damaged. Something told you those bandages you burned off weren’t that clean either.

“ya don’t look anythin’ like a man in those.”

You huffed, trying to squeeze past him. “That isn’t the point, Teddy.” One of his thick arms came down on the wall in front of you causing you to ‘eep’.

“cinders... do you... do you hate me?”

Where was this coming from?! You didn’t answer immediately, really thinking it over. Did you hate him? You lifted your head to face Teddy, whether or not you could see him. “I don’t know, but I think so.”

The monster didn’t move for a heartbeat, then another, and a third. The song faintly coming from him skipped a few beats and dropped pitch. You felt like you’d just slapped him, unsure of how he would react. Your pulse started racing at the thought of how all these human clothes, _covered in blood,_ got into his home in the first place. Oh gods! Oh gods you made a mistake. “I-I-I mean we just met an-”

You mind screeched to a dead halt at the sensation against your lips. Teeth. Really long teeth, smooth and pointed, curving out from a firmly set jaw. An- Was that a kiss?

Teddy’s song, his presence, the arm keeping you in place all vanished again, leaving you spluttering and confused in the hall. Good gods, what is going on!? First the moon-spirit- _thing_ and now a skeletal monster? How? Why? When? Your mind was drowning in all these sudden and dramatic changes, you were very overwhelmed. You ran your hands through your hair, feeling the scabs that formed from where your skull smashed into the garden path. How are you not dead? There is no way you should have survived that, unless... Teddy kept you alive? Then did Grillby patch you up so you didn't need that help staying alive? How long were you asleep for?

You took a deep breath, hissing a stream of flames. They curled through the air in the direction you twisted your tongue, picturing the shapes you traced. What is going to happen to you? _Someone_ _help_ , _anyone_. _I can’t do this alone._ Your back slid down the wall until you had curled into a ball on the floor.

“ _Lovely, you aren’t alone. I will be here for you. Please hurry. I need you, oh I need you_.”

“Who are you?” Your soul was so tired of fighting the pulling, so close to giving in, only to yank back from that chilling grip when you recalled what Teddy told you. “Don’t dance for anyone else...”

“ _That monster is of no consequence, Lovely. I will be kind to you, truly kind like that brute can’t ever be.”_

You did not answer the voice for a time, rising to your feet and shaking your head. ‘He’ was the reason you were in this mess to begin with, wasn’t ‘He’?

“No, my name is Cinders.” You walked away from that presence, clutching your hands into fists. This may be a world of horrors, but you’d be damned if you were just another damsel in distress. You were sick of being ‘proper’ but you refused to a harlot for some demonic _thing_ just because ‘He’ whispered sweet nothings to you. If that meant shedding your past, then you would. As far as you knew, you died in the garden, now a new person was walking away from the fall.

The thudding in your head stopped.


	5. The Lady Ran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the tension from so many changes, Cinders picks up and leaves. Her renewed Determination to make the best of her situation and her broken trust spur her off on her own. But the whispers are steady, they are patient and waiting. He will have her one way or another.  
> She finds refuge with a strange new friend or perhap just another predator waiting for her to let down her guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZ517Ls_FE @ 35:46 if you please

That day, after you shunned ‘Him’, you stalked down the steps, past Papyrus and stormed out into the cold. He called after you in a shrill screaming that sent a chill twitching up your back. The urge to run headlong into the snow was nearly overpowering, but you refused it, keeping a calm pace out into the wood. You let your fire go on the exposed sections of your body, mostly your neck and face. Perhaps you’d look like Grillby to the other fiends stalking in the darkness. 

Honestly, you didn’t much care. Each step put you farther and farther from your undertaker’s home. The one who lifted your broken form from the stones and carried you into the underground on ‘His’ orders. You frowned, grinding your teeth together in a mix of frustration and despair. Better to think of yourself as a dead woman walking, a monster just like the rest. You burn everything you touch and all who cross you will become as ashes. You are Cinders and they will learn to fear your flames. 

You caressed the withered trees as you passed, using them to mark a path for yourself with the smell of fire and the sound of popping bark echoing in your wake. The other monsters, stirring just on the edge of the light your flames undoubtedly cast, were not as silent as they believed themselves to be. If any of them got too close, you’d turn your face towards them. After about an hour of walking the left you be, dispersing back into the forest behind you. 

Even at a great distance, you could still feel Teddy’s gaze on your back. He was somewhere watching you carefully. The urge to keep going finally hit you and a smile played over your lips. If you could not be free, you were going to explore. 

As you walked, your steps shifted from crunching through the snow to a sinking thud of muddy ground. The sensations of plants passing over your skin and gently tapping reeds against your sides gave you pause. Careful not to burn the new underbrush, you knelt into the tall grassed, feeling the stalks as a giddy laugh bubbled out of you. Was this a marsh? You’d never been to a marsh before! Your afterlife was already looking up with new and interesting things to see.

With some hesitation, you darted forwards, footfalls echoing off peat and stone. The vibrations were closer together like the cavern tightened. Somewhere in the distance, you heard running water. If only you could still ‘see’ instead of just hear, maybe this landscape glowed with magic like the wintry forest did. Oh! You were missing out on so many things. 

A child-like glee filled you as you raced through the caves, laughing loudly and not caring what heard you. The fire was free enough to ease your worries. Teddy’s watchful glare no longer felt. Enough sense remained to keep your clothes from becoming kindling, but that was about it.

From now on, if there was danger ahead of you, you were going to face it head-on. You aren’t a proper lady, you never were, but you’re not going to be some damsel in distress either!

The marsh plants broke into an open chamber of some kind, cool rain pouring down over you as waves lapped against the stones. With a grin on your face, you bellowed out over the waters, roaring with joy and excitement for what lay ahead of you. This may be a world for of horrors but then again what’s one cursed human more or less?

... You are going to get out of here and you’ll go back to your Father, to your Aunty. You’ll come back from the dead for them.

Each step forward brought you closer to ‘Him’, you could feel it in the pull. The instants that couldn’t be resisted, the allure, had vanished, however. If you wanted to, you could ignore ‘Him’ altogether, focus your mind on the new world opening up around you. On the wonder amidst the terror and see this underground in a different light... Well, in a metaphorical sense. With more calmness, you carried on, the eerie feeling of following someone else’s footsteps sunk in through the back of your mind but you quickly dismissed it. Somewhere along the way, you almost tripped on a large stick, or at least you think it’s a stick... You  _ hope _ it’s a stick actually. You rolled it over the path ahead of you, carefully tapping out solid ground in the increasingly muddy swamp. Occasionally the sensation of a hand dragging you in the ‘right’ direction made it harder to block him out, but-- though you were loath to admit it-- ‘He’ seemed genuinely helpful when it came to not falling into the thick mud.

For tonight, or whatever time it was as you’d lost track of it what felt like two days ago but may well have been longer, you would make camp in a dryer section of the cave. You found a door set into the wall, old and worn and wooden. You’d been burning the stones with your fingers, but this thing didn’t catch light. The only object in existence that wouldn’t burn under your flames. It filled you with equal parts dread and fascination. So, naturally, you opened it and made your way into a small, bare room. You could detect nothing aside from the faint ticking of a clock and an odd chill in the air. It wasn’t physically cold, more like a restless spirit made this spot its home whilst it obstinately lingered on, alone and likely in the dark.

Tentatively, you settled into the corner behind the door. “Hello? Would you mind if I stayed here for a bit? I’ll only take a quick rest and be gone again.”

There was a buzzing sound in response, like music trying to come through a broken phonograph. If you strained, you could make out a voice under it all, but the words were impossible.

“Can you tap at all? My father taught me morse code.” Your uninhibited curiosity was taking over your fear, listening for the taps. 

_ Dash dot dash dash.... dot... dot dot dot... _ You tighten your grip on your stick as whoever it was tapped out in code. “Yes, I can tap. You are welcome to stay a while if you need.”

“Thank you.” You tapped it back while you spoke, relaxing against the wall and tucking yourself into a protective curl. You must have exhausted yourself from the constant burning and exploring you’ve done. It didn’t take long at all for your to fall peacefully asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the year hiatus, but it's October time once again. Time for the spooky to come back.
> 
> Tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com  
> Inspiration and characterization from undertomb.tumblr.com


	6. The Man, The Monster....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinders strike up a conversation with her strange host and learns that her greatest enemy is her own trusting nature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfwOJWDj18k @ 7:48 if you please

 

You blinked on instinct, feeling the emptiness of your eye sockets with a renewed ache. The muscles and tendons used to move your eyes twitched and spasmed and stung. You never really used them before, but that didn’t mean they were ever meant to be exposed to air. The ache was akin to an injury you’d gotten before as a young thing, playing in the garden and falling against a rosebush. Each thorn dug into you and you screamed in pain, drawing an attendant’s attention. The bush burst into flame but one thorn managed to escape your notice, buried in the underside of your chin. It took nearly three hours to be noticed and removed, your cut becoming infected and causing you a great deal of pain and discomfort. But then, you’d had medicine and light exposure to keep a mold or fungus from taking root. Down here, in the dark and the damp, wearing the clothes of the dead, even with your purifying crucible of a body, your eye sockets might have an infection rooted in them. If need be you could always cauterize the flesh around your eyes. It would be an unknown agony to you, though that may be better than a slow death from diseased tissue so close to your brain. You may never be able to ‘see’ again, though really thinking it through you’d already lived so much of your life without sight that even in this strange and magical place there wouldn’t be much to miss.

In fact, it was probably for the best Teddy took your eyes. The horrors you’ve already ‘seen’ in the woods, waiting for you... 

You shuddered and pulled in on yourself, the large branch scraping along your neck.  _ Dash Dash Dot Dash _ ... Your new companion was trying to speak with you through code. With a nervous shaking, you crept further into the room, measuring the dimensions and apparent emptiness with the echo of sound back toward you. It wasn’t a trick you had need of often back home, but one you picked up regardless, tracking movement and location by vibrations around you. The muffled melody reaching your ears from this being was broken beyond repair, barely hanging on. You realized then that even if this creature wanted to cause you harm, he could do nothing. He seemed much like a snowflake, graceful yet fragile. Touching him would cause the monster to dissolve into nothing.

He kept tapping the same sentence over and over, waiting between each for your reply. “Did you sleep well?”

“Oh, yes. Thank you for letting me stay the... night?” You shuffled forward, moving away from the wall and settling yourself more or less in front of your host by sound. He produced a constant buzz, like a radio lacking signal.

A puffing hiss hit your ears and you tilted your head. It was like a tea kettle and the old furnace pipes had mixed into the radio static. Laughter. He was laughing pleasantly. Tapping again, clearer than before, tapping calmly. “Time doesn’t have much meaning here. I am just glad for the company.” 

“Ah, of course,” You smile as warmly as you can, trying to ignore another jab of pain through where your juniper berry eyes had once been. “I can imagine how lonesome you must be down here. I can keep you company for a while yet if you like... I’m not sure what it is, but I feel there are many stories you could tell.”

For a while there was only the static; a clear sigh, the warm breath of which you could feel ghosting over your face, bringing a shudder to your spine. “I am very old, human. There are many, many stories hidden in my soul. Many I do not wish to tell.”

“I-If you do not wish to share that is all well, sir! We can... we can just have tea talk. Idle chatter to pass our weary hours faster.” You place the stick down beside you and get settled, scooting back a bit. It’s not that you didn’t trust him, it’s just.... Well, no it’s exactly that...

Still, he took you up on your offer. “My name is W.D.Gaster,” he tapped patiently. “I’m a scientist. I spent my tenure trying to break out cursed dependance on human flesh... I failed ultimately. My servitors are off on their own now doing gods know what.”

“I’m- ... I’m Cinders, it’s nice to meet you, Doctor Gaster.” He interrupted you with another solemn laugh. “My mother was cursed with the Flame. I now carry it. She was a lady of the court and my father is a low born merchant. I am a product of two worlds in that sense... I was also born blind but recently lost my eyes.”

From the way the static warbled you could guess that your host was shifting to make himself more comfortable. It drew a smile to your face, listening to the tapping once again. “I’d like to know what a blind human thinks of the stars and the open sky. What is it like for you?”

You sighed, leaning back to lay flat against the floor, ignoring the throbbing behind your eyelids and dragging up the sky from your memories. “It’s warm, usually. This large warmth glowing down on me. It’s a smell too, the forest and the mountains, sometimes the garden. Like water only thinner. There’s a taste to the sky, crisp and continuous. It goes up and up and up and... Oh, nothing like down here. Everything tastes of iron and stillness. Not the good kind of still either, but stale and rotting... Sorry,” you sat up and ran fingers through your oily hair, hiding your grimace at the sensation. “I’m rambling.”

“No need to apologize.” Gaster tapped quickly, the buzz of his static coming closer even as you shifted back. The curve of your spine pressed into the wall and you flinched at the sensation of electricity raising the hair along your arms and causing the front of your clothes to cling to you. “I much enjoy the sound of your voice after being alone... for so long.” The tapping was a gong ringing right next to your ear. You could feel the closeness of his arm against your cheek and it became hard to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com
> 
> Inspired by the undertomb.tumblr.com AU
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed tonight's chapter and I'll see you all tomorrow, ey?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster makes a terrible mistake when he believes he could tame the sun. Cinder must now deal with the fallout and then continue on her journey home stronger and wiser than before with new gifts, and perhaps even a new ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfwOJWDj18k&t=3264s @ 57:38 if you please

“P-Please, don’t hurt me.” He was too close, looming over you and that sense of security, of peace and confidence, left you suddenly. Even your flames spluttered out as your soul shrunk back from him.

“I have no intention of that, my dear.” His voice was clearer than before though still drowned. You felt as if turning a radio dial would either bring him into clarity or otherwise silence him altogether. Yet even as his voice was somewhere far away, his hand came up to caress your hair. “Ah, I can touch you now. How... fascinating...”

You turned your head away and fought to contain a whimper. Long spindly fingers ending in claws gently gripped your chin, forcing you to face Gaster. “N-No! Don’t touch me!” You wanted to lash out at him, to shove Gaster away but the longer his grip remained on you the weaker you felt... and the more solid his hands seemed to become.

“S-Such power! It’s like tapping into the sun!” He exclaimed with a giddy twinge to his voice, pulling you away from the wall to wrap his other hand around your back. You couldn’t even voice protests anymore, tears soaking through your bandages and burning them away. “I see what you meant by losing your eyes, my dear. Fret not, the good Doctor can help you. Yes, he will. Shhh now, tot.” Those fingers combed through your hair soothingly, though it had the opposite effect, thrusting you further into panic as your flames spluttered, trying to burn out and incinerate the monster holding you. Nothing came of it, like someone had placed a cap over your inner fire to suffocate the light. “ **It’s alright now, I’ll take good care of you so sleep now. Sleep forever.** ”

The darkness took you as the blaze finally burnt out, every muscle in your body going lax. You felt like something was lifting you out of yourself. There was a buzzing sensation all around you as a strange song grew louder. It cradled you, brushing away the fear and pain, enveloping you in a warm and sleepy lull.

Something like light appeared directly before you. For a long while, you couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening, what the light meant. People had described color but you never thought of it seriously. You tried to gasp when it occurred that you were  _ seeing _ , really seeing for the first time. No air enters your lungs though, it didn’t even feel like you needed to breathe. If anything like a sensation came to you it was only temperature and a weightlessness. Large pale hands with ovular holes punched through them lifted up the form of a broken woman into black-robed arms, the somewhat vague feeling of legs moving to stand under you jarred your sense of self. The body moving around you, the body you were in was alien and ancient and...  _ consuming _ your very existence as fuel. The pain that song was trying to keep at bay slammed down onto you, every speck of ‘you’ wanted to scream, to thrash against the confines hold you, but you remained absolutely still, those hooks digging into you.

A hissing vibration ran through your- his chest as Gaster brushed a large clawed hand over his sternum. “ **Hush now, everything will be alright. I know it is painful, but if you sleep you will feel nothing of anguish or sorrow of loneliness again. I’ll keep you safe with me, alright? Just relax and let it happen.** ”

You wanted to scream at him, shout and rage a tempest of flames. Demand answers for what he has done to you, the lifeless form dangling in his arms like a fish pulled from the stream and suffocated. Nothing came of your struggling, sensations and physical desires hit you to no avail. Little more than a spirit remained of you and even that was fading slowly in the song overtaking you. A rhythm you did not know and could not catch called out to you from somewhere but panicked as you were you could not answer it. Gaster was trying to subdue you, draw you into slumber, but you refused. 

Deep, mind-shattering tears formed over your ‘skin’ as you fought the hooks. You struggle only making you weaker, easier to draw in. Still a fish on the line....

_ Fine _ . If you could not run, then you would FIGHT. It was like pivoting in your mind, rushing deeper into the static-song with the intention of finding its source and  _ shattering _ it into dust. Feelings that were not yours immediately bombarded you, and if you could, you would have smiled at the alien terror washing through you.  _ Good. Be afraid. _ He was right to compare you to the sun, and now the monster would know the wrath of the heavenly star.

Gaster was trying to push you away, but after all the pulling he’d been doing to keep you locked away, he was ill prepared for your about-face. He could not fight you back for long and when you reached the core of his light, you reached out to seize it. Something odd happened, something you couldn't comprehend at first. When you ‘touched’ him, instead of a shatter like you’d been expecting, there was a suction sensation, like the force working on you was suddenly thrown into reverse. The darkness returned at Gaster’s song faded away with a high pitched ringing thunderously in your ears. 

Hours, maybe even days later, you sat up, stiff and coughing and somehow alive. Your chest felt swollen and nearly everything ached. With a slight grown you stood and glanced around the white room with its white walls and- hold on! You lifted your hand up to cover your eye sockets and everything went black, back into the nothingness you were used to, only even this was different. You were  _ seeing _ the blackness, it wasn’t just the absence of vision, it was the absence of light. You could see! But how?

“ **That is an excellent question** .”

You nearly jumped out of your skin hearing Gaster like a whisper in your ear. Immediately your hand flew away from your face and you started whipping around, trying to find him.

“ **Please stop, you’ll make us nauseous. Ugh, I’ve never had internal organs like this before.** ”

A chill ran through your body and you glanced down at your chest. Some strange expertise overcame you as information you’ve never known and questions you’ve never asked populated your mind. It was with these foreign notions that you discovered how to pull your light from your chest and examine it. Your essence no longer seemed a ball of flames but rather a crystal heart in the core of a roaring fire, a small inverted patch of white curled up in its center. You knew that it had struck an equilibrium and would add fuel to your pyre for so long as your flame would burn.

This little white heart was Gaster and in your retaliation, you’d flipped the scenario and wound up absorbing him instead of the other way around. But how to get him  _ out _ ?

“ **Though I’m sure this is not the news you’d like to hear, I’m afraid we are stuck together now. However, I agree my maintaining personality and individuality is... highly abnormal.** ”

What is happening to you? Could he read your mind because your essences have been tethered together? Why did he even try to consume you in the first place? Because he’s a monster or is there some other reason? Being able to touch you, with how weak he seemed before... But...

“ **I’ve been trapped in this room for a long time, in a limbo between life and death. It is rare for humans to make it this far into the Underground, rarer still for them to find my room and linger more than a moment after taking in my visage. I... I just want to live again, to leave this place. By taking your soul and regaining a physical form I’d hoped to do just that, though I hate the exchanging of one prison for another, your body is leagues better than my previous situation.** ”

“And, you have access to my thought and feelings because I’ve absorbed your soul, and I have all your knowledge and power?” The words tumbled from your mouth in speculation and conversation. It certainly felt like someone had reached into your head and tweaked with your mind. 

Shaking your head, you turned your gaze down to the dust covered floor, observing the clothes piled there amid the white power that you knew was once Gaster before shifting your gaze to your own body. What you were wearing was far from clean, mud-colored clothing caked in blood from a long time ago. You took the opportunity to strip out of the clothes, looking over your cloth strip undergarments and resolving yourself to the likelihood of not being able to find any clean underwear down here. You’d settle for a nightgown or a petticoat, though keeping your skin bare might be the more intelligent idea. Just walk around burning, you’d blend in with the other monsters better.

Still, you lifted up Gaster’s overly large robe and brushed the soft velvet texture against your cheeks with a sigh. You felt a pulse of something like pride or contentment from the monster, unsure of how you felt about his reaction. Instead, you shifted around his other clothes, taking the fresh sweater. It too was luxuriously soft and hung off your body in an awkward manner from the disparity in size between you and the monster. He had a pair of leggings which you pulled on and rolled a few times at your waist to keep it in place. Even with so little clothing you still looked fairly modest, the sweater hanging down nearly to your knees and hiding you form even as the leggings lightly kissed the silhouette of your calves. And, perhaps most pleasantly, the cloth formed more of a shell around you, trapping air against your skin though contact was at a blessed minimum.

Satisfied with your new attire and even more so with your ability to see, you spread out Gaster’s large robe and lay down upon it, facing the blank ceiling. A determined smile spread over your lips. “I may be in a ghost story, Doctor, but that will not discourage me. I will get back to my father and aunt, and you are going to teach me everything you know about magic, even if we have to sit in here for a thousand years.”

“ **... Fine. I’ll teach you the basics now, but once you have that mastered we get out of here. The rest will take years for you to learn and that can be done on the move.** ”

You grinned wider, feeling an arrogance and self-content you knew were not original patterns in your tapestry of mind. These golden threads were woven into you along with Gaster’s soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com  
> Work inspired by the Undertomb AU


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tone shifted a bit dramatically this chapter. so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4oZZhpMXP4 @15:17. I think all the song beets match up, but I'm not entirely sure....

 

When you emerged from that room you felt older. When you stepped out into Waterfall for the first time, both in knowing its name and in seeing the magic-infused waters pulsating with the same red hue that seemed to taint everything thing in this world, you felt no sense of wonderment, for Gaster had taught you well. Too well. You knew the inner workings and machinations of most magical things with the same disillusioned clarity he held about all manner of life, only such interests that would snag Gaster’s attention elicited in you any joy of discovery. For the most part, you kept your eyes closed, the act of seeing, though pleasurable, left you with a throbbing headache and made you dizzy after prolonged periods. You could sense lights- souls- again, just as before Sans had your eyes removed, though lacking the physical organ your sensitivity to the ‘sound’ of a soul was heightened as well. With magic all around you, glowing and buzzing in a way you could recognize even without sight, you found Gaster’s sight more distracting than helpful.

Dressed in what articles of his clothes could reasonably fit you and the velvety robe modified into a kind of rucksack of sorts, with Gaster’s advice, of course, you wandered your way over to a large subterranean river. There was a monster resting casually at the docs, probably in a boat by the void against the red tinted waters. At your approach, they straightened up, the creaking of wood and sloshing of water confirming your boat hypothesis. Your new prisoner and mentor hastily shuddered a warning, more of a wariness that kept you from going too close to the pier's edge.

“Ta la la~” they declared in a sing-song tone, one so sweet and luring that, had Gaster not reminded you of danger, you might have walked right onto the boat without hesitation. “Where does the river take you today?”

“...” You got the distinct feeling that you should not speak, that the very act of opening your mouth would be dangerous so you refrained. The sensation of Gaster’s magic worming through your veins and pouring through your bones caused you to shudder. You almost lashed out at him on instinct to drive his invasive energy back into the cell of your life essence, but you relaxed, noting that he was only gently guiding your hands into odd shapes as if conversing without the need for speech. You had never known something like this could exist, though if there were writing systems for the blind to read, it should be no surprise the mute would learn to speak.

Gaster hadn’t spoken much after the first week, each of you learning to read and understand the other at the level of raw thoughts and emotions, words were unnecessary, so it was uncomfortable to hear Gaster translating his signing verbally after well over a month in abject silence. “ **I would like to go to Hotland, the closest port from here.** ”

“ _ Yes, okay _ .” It took some effort for you to think words at him and not say them out loud. “ _ But why are we going there? You were very cryptic about your past. That’s about the only thing you refuse to share. _ ” You kinda tuned out the conversation Gaster and the river person were having, only really paying attention to the sounds around you in the gaps between your personal monster-buddies thoughts.

“ **I already explained that I’m a scientist, that discovering everything about everything is my job. The King of all monsters, Asgore, hired me for a time. My laboratory will have all the equipment I need for your escape.** ”

“ _ Didn’t the barrier go down centuries ago? And even then couldn’t I have walked right through since I have a boss monster’s soul now? _ ” You settled into the base of the boat, listening to the water as it slid past. There was a very distinct paddling sound, like animals legs through water, and the boat bottom shifted in the manner of a stride. Ah, it was probably alive as well, through some kind of enchantment. There was no life essence in the wood itself, more like the monstrous Riverperson’s magic kept the whole thing from rotting away.

“ **Yes, but we still need to get past Asgore. Unless you have a way to teleport or fly that you haven’t told me about.** ” His voice oozed with sarcasm and brought a slightly bitter taste to your mouth.  “ **No, we get to my lap, find the void-pattern disrupter and we run bacl to the other side of the Underground and** **_pray_ ** **Asgore doesn’t find us. Neither him nor that** **_damn flower_ ** **.** ” You could feel the needling pulse of disgust from Gaster’s soul running ricocheted through your own. It made your stomach twist and drop as you tried not to gag under the dizzying pressure.

Your discomfort must have been obvious because the Riverperson felt inclined to comment. It took you a few beats to actually process the song after the emotional manipulative magic rolled through your skull. “Tra la la~ You swallowed the man that speaks in hands. Such delightful pains he’ll bring~”

You shuddered, a deep frown running over your face but you still held your silence, not missing the muffled hiss of frustration from the monster when you didn’t respond. If they wanted you to talk back, you were damn sure you would never do so. However, you were unsettled to the point of opening your eyes, clearly shocking the monster before you. They were dressed in a tattered and torn cloak, covering them near completely with a raised hood and two points of light marking eyes on an otherwise solid black surface. It was like looking into a void. Like the sight you always had before absorbing Gaster gave you functioning eyes. That fact alone was enough to disturb you to revulsion. The Riverperson was in no way terrible to behold in any other fashion, merely that the details of their existence were so utterly ambiguous at to seem flat against the light from below. None reflected or tinted their body in any way, save the subtle hues outlined on their cloak. It was like staring at the equivalent of a hole in reality shaped like a human being.

You closed your eyes again with a ragged breath, the most sound you’ve made yet in this being’s presence and they couldn’t even take advantage of it, so overcome with their own stupor.

“I have beheld the sun,” they murmured reverently, “and she is great, and she is terrible. Tremble all before beauty and grace made flesh.”

The bump of the boat against the dock saved you from a lapse in judgment. Of all the things they could have said, this alone was entirely unexpected. You wanted to know what they meant, the second monster to compare you to the sun, but why? Was it your soul? 

Your bare feet touched against smooth volcanic rock and Gaster’s soul pulled up a picture in your mind, still getting used to translating images quickly. It was the surrounding of this dock in great detail, probably from how frequently he came here. You pushed his magic out of your soul and down through your legs, offering him the ability to pilot your steps as your mind carried off its own tangents, to which he was directly privy.

Gaster’s recollection of the inciting event in your relationship from his perspective shed some light on his terminology. He’d been describing the raw energy in your soul. Apparently, that curse placed on your family cause magic to build up then combust dramatically whenever something came in contact. Using magic constantly would be the only conceivable way to counteract the more destructive effects. It’s also why you felt so... you when you let go of everything, it was your soul burning off the most unrefined magics stored, your inner strengths surfacing after so many years of constant suppression. 

“ **Magical constipation** .”

It could be lethal. It’s what killed your mother during the stress of childbirth. Her soul cracked right down the middle, at least that was the most likely spot to crack on a human soul, and she died from her life energy leaking out. Energy you would have absorbed, resting on her bare breasts as a babe as women are oft to do with their newborns.

“ _ So I am a sun in power and form? But how exactly, and why were they so... _ ” Your mind supplemented the muscle reaction instead of an image of shrugging.

Gaster’s mind went to many different places and you observed the calculations rushing by, understanding them all through your shared knowledge of magic. You were all alone, walking through the volcanic halls of Hotland, and yet your entire existence in that moment consisted of a conversation between a monster scientist and a cursed human, both tied closer by the mutual desire for freedom. _To feel the sun on your face_ , **to** **taste the fresh breeze** , _to finally see the open sky_ , **to gaze at the stars once again**.

Gaster brought your legs to a halt in before a set of massive doors. Your eyes flicked open to see if the memories he carried matched the present. They did not. You swallowed thickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @WT_onthego
> 
> work inspired by the Undertomb AU

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the tumblr blog: undertomb.tumblr.com
> 
> My tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com


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